I love that Prince Matchabelli Golden Autumn is celebratory, rather than melancholy or dreary.
Spicy, woody, balsamic, animalic- all these facets fraternize beautifully.
With all of its old-school orientalia, it has a deeply calming sense of plenitude, without excessive weight.
Sylvie Chantecaille has released some nice fragrances for her Chantecaille fragrance line. Frangipane and Jasmine were my favorites of the first five fragrances released under the Chantecaille label. Jasmine was the last release back in 2003 and the fragrances had not recently been widely available. That has all changed as Chantecaille has returned with three new fragrances. Senior Editor Ida Meister, Patty of Perfume Posse and I agree the best of these three is Kalimantan. The other two fragrances Vetyver and Petales are worthy of some attention, too.
Celine Ellena’s latest release might be her best fragrance to date; The Different Company de Bachmakov weaves disparate notes into uncommon beauty and uses the inspiration of the Annee France-Russie as starting point. Right from that inspiration the idea of marrying the steppes of Russia with the fertile fields of Bordeaux would make for something interesting. The choices Mme. Ellena makes take de Bachmakov beyond interesting and into the realm of breathtaking.
This inspiration for Acqua Di Parma Colonia Essenza is confirmed by the press materials where the following statement resides; “Colonia Essenza is a new fragrance that highlights the essence of the original Colonia fragrance. The more recognizable notes and accords that represent the “soul” of Colonia are boosted….” If this was the basic brief the perfumer worked off of, they succeeded and, the first two-thirds of the development of Colonia Essenza take this inspiration and make something inspired until the base unfortunately returns to something all too common and keeps Colonia Essenza from being a complete triumph.
Earlier this year Donna Karan released Iris and I expected this would be similar to the line of Donna Karan Essences. In many ways Iris turned out to be one of the bigger disappointments of the early part of the year for me as it was perhaps the least interesting Donna Karan fragrance release ever. With that as backdrop I wasn’t expecting the new DKNY fragrance, pureDKNY, to be the one I would like more. In fact I had to keep wearing the preview bottle I was sent over and over to convince myself how much I liked pureDKNY.
Jasmine is one of my favorite floral notes. One of the reasons that I enjoy it and the many iterations available in perfumery is the different faces it can show.
For the latest release from By Kilian, Love and Tears; perfumer Calice Becker chose to create a jasmine soliflore.
Love and Tears attempts to use the central note to provide its own contrast as jasmine moves from the greener aspects early on to the cleanly floral aspects by the end.
